Photograph-plate.



P. V. W. WELSH. PHOTOGRAPH PLATE APPLICATION I'll ZED 00'1.26, 1906.

PATENTED APR. 2, 1907.

UNITED STATES PIERRE V. W. WELSH,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PHOTOGRAPH-PLATE.

To all w/tmn it may (Bmwcrn: I Be it known that I, PIERRE V. WV. WELSH, 1 of the city, county, and State of New York, l have invented a new and useful Improvement in Photograph-Plates, of which the following l is a full, clear, and exact description. l

My invention relates to improvements in photograph-plates, and particularly to plates l which are adapted for use in automatic photograph-machines or for photographing pictures to be mounted in miniature frames or 1 button-frames.

My invention is not limited, however, to any particular use, but can be used where any photograph-plate is employed.

The object of my invention is to produce a metallic, preferably tin, plate, which shall have a backing, giving it a suitable thickness for passing through any usual or preferred form of feed mechanism and adapting it also to be better mounted. In other words, my invention is intended to produce a plate which is essentially a plate for making tintypes, so called, but which can be manipulated like a glass plate or card.

In many machinesit is now customary to load a chute with a quantity of plates, and these are fed forward one by one to the photographing mechanism. To do this successfully a plate must have some considerable thickness, so that it will be engaged by a suitable pushing or releasing device, or if it is a metal plate the plate must be especially prepared and given some particular shape to fit a particular feed. If an attempt is made to feed a thin metal plate through one of the feed mechanisms referred to, the result is that the plate, because of its thinness, gets wedged into the working parts of the mechanism, or its edges become more or less battered and scratch adjacent plates, or the plate is injured. 1 find, however, that by taking an ordinary metallic plate and securing it to a backing of cardboard or other material having sufficient thickness and rigidity I get all the tin-type or metal plate effects so far as the taking and printing of pictures is concerned, and I also get a plate which will pass through any usual feed. Furthermore, 1 get a plate on which a cheaper picture can be made with good effect and which, by reason of its body, can be conveniently and nicely mounted in a suitable frame. Moreover, the plate and its backing constitute one homoge- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 2, 1907.

,1906. SerialNo. 340.681.

With these ends in view my invention consists of a composite photograph-plate having a metal surface and the body of more bulky and lighter material.

Referenceis to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is .a perspective view of the plate embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a similar view of a different form of the plate. Fig. 3 is a broken plan view of one form of feed which is used in photograph-machines, and Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4- 4 of Fig. 3.

The photograph-plate is made up of the metallic surface 10, which can be the ordinary tin plate so called, and this is secured by suitable cement to a backing 11, which gives the plate the necessary substance, the parts 11 and 10 being of the same size, and tpley can be made, obviously, of any necessary s ape.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I have shown a form of feed to illustrate the advantages of the plate so far as mechanical manipulation is concerned. The fed shows a chute 12, which is mounted on a base 13, and the base has a squared opening through it, leaving parts 14 out of normal registry with the chute, so that when plates are piled in they will rest upon the parts 14. Turning on the base, however, is a plate 15, which has an opening corresponding to the chute-bottom, and on this is a handle portion 16, extending upward through a slot 17 in the base 13, while a pin 18 works in a slot 19 and is operated by a spring 20 to hold the plate 15 out of registry with the chutebottom. When the plate 15 is moved against the tension of the spring, however, the lower photograph-plate is engaged by the edges of the plate 15 and skewed slightly, so as to drop through the base 13. This structure is shown as referred to in a general way merely to illustrate the mechanical advantages of my plate. It will be readily seen that if thin metal plates of the usual size were piled into the feed-chute the plate 15 would hardly register with a single photograph-plate. 1f the plate 15 were made of any considerable thick ness, it would engage several photograph plates, and if it were made thin enough to engage but one the adjustment would be too nice for practical purposes. This holds true of all feeds with which I am familiar. By

neous device, and they are not separable.

giving the tin or other metal plate, however,

a backing such as described it has the thickness of the ordinary glass or card photographplate and can be put great facility.

It Will be seen, therefore, that I provide a plate in Which all the color and other effects of metal can be had, but Which can be mechanically handled and mounted as Well as other forms of plate.

It Will be seen that this construction thickens up the plate, so that it can be fed very nicely, and after it has passed through the developer the backing is soaked up to such an extent that it can be easily peeled off, leaving the tintype or metal plate to be used precisely as usual.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. As an improved article of manufacture, a composite photograph-plate having a senthrough the feed With as siti zed metal surface, and. a backing of lighter and more bulky material.

2. A photograph-plate having a metal surface coated With sensitized material and a backing of lighter and. thicker material, the tWo parts being rigidly secured together and of the same size.

3. A photograph-plate comprising two sections, one 01 sheet metal having a sensitized coating and. the other of cardboard, the sections being of the same size and rigidly secured together.

4. A photograph-plate comprising tWo sec- I tions of the same size, one of sheet metal I having a coating of sensitized material and 1 the other of thicker and lighter material, l adapted to soften when immersed in a bath.

PIERRE V. W. WELSH.

i a i Witnesses:

WARREN B. HUTornNsoN, FRANK L. STUBBs. 

